DODGE CITY, Kan. (July 28, 2017) – Zach Blurton outlasted reigning track champion Taylor Velasquez to post his first Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car feature win of the year before a crowd in excess of 5,000 people to cap off Friday night’s Driver Appreciation Night at the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval.
While Blurton finally took command on the 15th of 20 rounds after a handful of lead changes, Mike Petersilie broke a DCRP victory drought by taking IMCA Modified honors, Brandon Kenny scored the IMCA Sport Modified win, Angel Munoz notched his fifth IMCA Stock Car win of the season and Reagan Sellard landed his second IMCA Hobby Stock triumph.
In the 20-lap Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car feature, Jetmore native Zach Blurton took the lead for the third and final time on the 15th lap en route to landing the Midwest Ag Professionals/Wheat State Roofing No. 2J entry in entry lane.
“That was an awesome race,” Blurton proclaimed to the massive crowd. “The top was slowing down a little and the bottom was starting to take a little rubber here and there, we were able to find it a couple of times coming off four and some in two.”
While Blurton started the feature inside row two, Velasquez gunned into the lead at the outset from the second row outside in his bid for a second consecutive win. Blurton was on the march though, surging past Ray Seemann for second on the third round and then closing in to challenge for the point.
With Velasquez ripping the topside and Blurton catfishing the bottom, the latter got a run off of turn four to edge ahead on the eight circuit. Velasquez battled right back out front in the next pair of corners only to surrender the point again a lap later.
Traffic worked to Velasquez’ advantage to regain the lead on the 12th round, with him moving the No. 21x to the bottom to protect the lead. But, when he slipped off the bottom exiting turn two on the 15th round, Blurton was there to take quick advantage by shooting back out front as Koby Walters made an effort to join in on the lead mix.
Approaching a gaggle of lapped cars in the final circuits with the top three in close contact, one of those lapped cars (Cody Lampe) slapped the turn two wall directly in front of the leaders to bring out the race’s only caution with three laps to go.
With clear track ahead, Blurton raced on to the stripe unabated with Walters taking advantage of another Velasquez slip off the bottom of turn two on the restart to claim runner-up honors. Velasquez settled for third with Seemann and Keefe Hemel rounding out the top five.
In the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, 2007 track champ Mike Petersilie raced around Randy Wilson for the lead on the seventh lap en route to his first DCRP win in several years. “We were overdue to get one here,” the Hoisington racer said afterward.
While Wilson gunned into the lead at the drop flag from sixth, Petersilie needed just one lap to move his No. 25p into second from the eighth starting position.
Petersilie reeled Wilson in before racing by for the lead on the seventh round. Tenth-starter Clay Sellard and 12th-starter Brendon Gemmill followed suit soon after and tried to chase down the win with Sellard closing Petersilie’s rear bumper and trying to challenge, but to no avail.
Petersilie slipped away to take the checkered flag by a handful of car-lengths with Sellard and Gemmill filling out the podium. Wilson was fourth after leading early while Jesse Smith batted into fifth in the closing circuits.
Brandon Kenny became the fourth different leader of the 20-lap IMCA Sport Modified feature with a handful of laps to go and then held off fellow Woodward, OK, shoe Jeff Kaup to post the win in his first DCRP visit of the year.
While Kenny worked forward from the ninth starting position, Bart Baker paced the opening four rounds before an incident handed the lead over to current points leader Kaup. Kaup had his hands full though with the duo of Robert Elliott and Kenny pressuring to take command.
Elliott powered into the lead on 11th round before Kenny surged to the front on the 15th lap with Elliott retiring to the pits under a caution period with five laps to go.
Kenny fought off Kaup over the remaining handful of laps to secure the win with Dustin Donley taking advantage of a Kaleb Roach spin in the final corner to nab the third spot behind the lead duo. Jeremy Sigler crossed the stripe in fourth with Jarett Lunow rounding out the top five.
In an evenly-matched 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature, Lamar, Colorado’s Angel Munoz denied Tyler Tipton’s bid for two in a row by taking his fifth DCRP triumph of the season.
With Tipton gridding the field sixth and Munoz in seventh, it was Munoz winning the race through traffic to get to second behind early leader Chris Oliver. Munoz charged into the lead on the third round with Tipton right on his heels in pursuit of the lead.
The duo battled for the lead the rest of the way, with Tipton pulling alongside on several occasions. Munoz was unflappable however, putting together 15 flawless circuits to take the win ahead of Tipton with Ondre Rexford, Cole Traugott and Ron Hartman rounding out the top five
Bucklin’s Reagan Sellard rounded out the night’s feature winners by fending off Matt O’Hair for his second 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock victory of the year.
While Sellard and O’Hair worked forward from their row three starting positions, Brett Copeland led in the early going as he made a run at two wins in a row.
Sellard and O’Hair closed in though, with both slipping by on the eighth round to move into first and second, respectively. O’Hair pressured Sellard the rest of the way, but Sellard was up to the task.
Sellard took the checkered flag ahead of O’Hair with Tathan Burkhart a close third. Duane Wahrman rebounded from an early incident to salvage a fourth-place finish with Bryan Habiger rounding out the top five.
In the giveaways, IMCA Hobby Stock shoe Duane Wahrman won the grand prize Hinchman Racing suit while IMCA Modified racer Jesse Smith picked up a $250 bonus in the drawing among the six drivers that had the most tickets turned in at the front gate. The other five drivers each picked up $100 including Danny Schulte (IMCA Hobby Stocks), Jacob Huse (IMCA Hobby Stocks), Joey Maupin (IMCA Sport Modifieds), Kevin Tabor (IMCA Sport Modifieds) and Tanner Brunson (IMCA Sport Modifieds). All 93 drivers on hand walked away with something in hand courtesy of Precise Racing Products, BMI, Pistons Auto/Diesel Repair, A&J Trucking, Quint Transportation, Carquest and more.
Action resumes at Dodge City Raceway Park on Saturday night, August 19, with the Fourth Annual Sport Modified Mayhem that features IMCA Sport Modifieds along with Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
Dodge City Raceway Park – Driver Appreciation Night
July 28, 2017 Results:
Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 2J-Zach Blurton, 2. 11-Keefe Hemel, 3. 72-Ray Seemann, 4. 97-Brian Herbert, 5. 49-Kris Moore, 6. 1x-Cody Lampe, 7. 8J-Brandy Jones, 8. 18-Brandon Sprott.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 2. 11k-Tyler Knight, 3. 10-Jordan Knight, 4. 33-Koby Walters, 5. 51r-Ross Essenberg, 6. 17x-Craig Jecha, 7. 49x-Luke Cranston.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 2J-Zach Blurton, 2. 33-Koby Walters, 3. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 4. 72-Ray Seemann, 5. 11-Keefe Hemel, 6. 10-Jordan Knight, 7. 97-Brian Herbert, 8. 49-Kris Moore, 9. 11k-Tyler Knight, 10. 8J-Brandy Jones, 11. 51r-Ross Essenberg, 12. 17x-Craig Jecha, 13. 18-Brandon Sprott, 14. 1x-Cody Lampe. DNS: 49x-Luke Cranston.
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. K98-Danny Keller, 2. 7s-David Solberg, 3. 01-Jesse Smith, 4. 26-Tom Beavers, 5. 16-Kevin Gray, 6. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 7. 3h-Ryan Heger, 8. 40d-Steve Dent.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 25p-Mike Petersilie, 2. 1n-Nick Link, 3. 2L-Tracy Link, 4. 721-Brendon Gemmill, 5. 57-Joel Lane, 6. 22T-Trent Gray, 7. 25-Kale Beavers, 8. 27-Grant Florence.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 9-Cole Traugott, 2. A2-Randy Wilson, 3. 85c-Clay Sellard, 4. 22k-Brad Keller, 5. 44-Mike Lunow, 6. 75-Randle McRoberts, 7. 8r-Jesse Richter, 8. 36-Travis Simmons.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 16-Kevin Gray, 2. 57-Joel Lane, 3. 44-Mike Lunow, 4. 3h-Ryan Heger, 5. 22T-Trent Gray, 6. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 7. 8r-Jesse Richter, 8. 75-Randle McRoberts, 9. 36-Travis Simmons, 10. 25-Kale Beavers. DNS: 40d-Steve Dent, 27-Grant Florence.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 25p-Mike Petersilie, 2. 85c-Clay Sellard, 3. 721-Brendon Gemmill, 4. A2-Randy Wilson, 5. 01-Jesse Smith, 6. 26-Tom Beavers, 7. K98-Danny Keller, 8. 1n-Nick Link, 9. 7s-David Solberg, 10. 3h-Ryan Heger, 11. 44-Mike Lunow, 12. 16-Kevin Gray, 13. 57-Joel Lane, 14. 8r-Jesse Richter, 15. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 16. 75-Randle McRoberts, 17. 22T-Trent Gray, 18. 9-Cole Traugott, 19. 2L-Tracy Link, 20. 22k-Brad Keller.
IMCA Sport Modifieds:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 09-Robert Elliott, 2. 92-Jeff Kaup, 3. 81T-Tristen Barton, 4. 81-Troy Bynum, 5. 09b-Brock Berry, 6. 18-Kyle Wiens, 7. 8-Brian May, 8. 65-Kohl Ricke, 9. 57-Tanner Brunson.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 16-Dustin Donley, 2. 33r-Mike Roach, 3. 5r-Kaleb Roach, 4. 21J-Jeremy Sigler, 5. 22r-Dan Rogers, 6. 62-Marvin Ward, 7. 3s-Adam Stenzel, 8. 21m-Joey Maupin.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 21b-Brandon Kenny, 2. 37-Bart Baker, 3. 10-Alex Wiens, 4. 7-Jarett Lunow, 5. 12-Kevin Tabor, 6. 09x-Brett Barry, 7. 3-Garrett Donley, 8. 33s-Slade Roach.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 09x-Brett Barry, 2. 18-Kyle Wiens, 3. 33s-Slade Roach, 4. 12-Kevin Tabor, 5. 8-Brian May, 6. 21m-Joey Maupin, 7. 65-Kohl Ricke, 8. 22r-Dan Rogers, 9. 62-Marvin Ward, 10. 3-Garrett Donley, 11. 09b-Brock Berry, 12. 57-Tanner Brunson. DNS: 3s-Adam Stenzel.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 21b-Brandon Kenny, 2. 92-Jeff Kaup, 3. 16-Dustin Donley, 4. 21J-Jeremy Sigler, 5. 7-Jarett Lunow, 6. 8-Brian May, 7. 10-Alex Wiens, 8. 18-Kyle Wiens, 9. 09x-Brett Barry, 10. 21m-Joey Maupin, 11. 22r-Dan Rogers, 12. 81T-Tristen Barton, 13. 65-Kohl Ricke, 14. 5r-Kaleb Roach, 15. 09-Robert Elliott, 16. 33s-Slade Roach, 17. 33r-Mike Roach, 18. 37-Bart Baker, 19. 12-Kevin Tabor, 20. 81-Troy Bynum (DQ).
IMCA Stock Cars:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 95-Tyler Tipton, 2. 97x-Ondre Rexford, 3. 3-Chris Oliver, 4. 5-Matthew Smith, 5. 181-Kevin Wagoner, 6. 52c-Cole Traugott, 7. 55-Robbie Perkins. DNS: 14-Brandon Fisher.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 2m-Angel Munoz, 2. 17m-Shannon Maughlin, 3. 55h-Ron Hartman, 4. 89-Gregg Schell, 5. 33-Marlin Hogie, 6. 95x-Mark Smith, 7. 3k-Michael Smith.
“A” Main (15 Laps): 1. 2m-Angel Munoz, 2. 95-Tyler Tipton, 3. 97x-Ondre Rexford, 4. 52c-Cole Traugott, 5. 55h-Ron Hartman, 6. 14-Brandon Fisher, 7. 5-Matthew Smith, 8. 17m-Shannon Maughlin, 9. 95x-Mark Smith, 10. 89-Gregg Schell, 11. 181-Kevin Wagoner, 12. 55-Robbie Perkins, 13. 3k-Michael Smith, 14. 3-Chris Oliver, 15. 33-Marlin Hogie.
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 2s-Reagan Sellard, 2. 55-Jacob Huse, 3. 20-Tyler Walker, 4. 007-Bryan Habiger, 5. 54w-Shawn Weigel, 6. 69-Danny Schulte, 7. 7-Tom Reed.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 19-Brett Copeland, 2. 17w-Duane Wahrman, 3. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart, 5. 99-Gerald Walker, 6. 22-Donald Kaup, 7. 5-Aaron Maxwell.
“A” Main (15 Laps): 1. 2s-Reagan Sellard, 2. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 3. 250-Tathan Burkhart, 4. 17w-Duane Wahrman, 5. 007-Bryan Habiger, 6. 20-Tyler Walker, 7. 19-Brett Copeland, 8. 69-Danny Schulte, 9. 54w-Shawn Weigel, 10. 22-Donald Kaup, 11. 99-Gerald Walker, 12. 55-Jacob Huse, 13. 5-Aaron Maxwell. DNS: 7-Tom Reed.